Chapter 11
Chapter 11
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Modern Controls and the Tutorial Boss
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Leaning back in his chair like he'd collapsed into it, Jicheol fiddled with his phone.
The shock from the breaking news only left him rattled for a moment. As he dug deeper into the gallery, things started to take shape.
And he had to accept one undeniable fact.
The new game he'd rejected as a betrayal of the genre's roots was actually blowing up big time.
The gallery's glowing reviews, especially the player counts, softened his sharp-edged frustration bit by bit.
...Yeah. He knew it deep down.
Sure, on the surface he griped like an old-timer that they didn't need to flip the genre on its head, that this wasn't the Odin's Son he loved... but somewhere inside, he was nodding along.
That Odin's Son's system was a total newbie shredder.
That Afterimage was the culprit behind turning players into fossils and killing the game.
And from the devs' perspective, this was the right call.
Truth be told, Odin's Son commands were so convoluted you couldn't find anything like them anywhere else in the industry.
↓Light Kick, Mid Fist, →Heavy Fist, Kick Kick Kick
If a normal fighting game's combo looked like this:
↓ Light Air Mid Change Mid Attack → Upper Change Heavy Attack Special Special Special
In Odin's Son, you had to time it perfectly like this.
Practicing combos like a rhythm game and nailing them felt rewarding... but only in the early days.
He could barely land one or two, while the vets chained dozens in damage races in that idiot game.
Jealous? Practice more? Git Gud?
Even if you busted your ass to master it, meta shifts forced a full hard reset?
Yeah. Using Modern Controls didn't make Classic totally obsolete, right?
Modern was convenient for quick inputs, sure, but Classic hit harder on damage.
And Afterimage for movement and stance changes was still going strong outside combos.
He set his phone down and stared at the monitor.
The character creation screen for the launched Hel: Odin's Daughter floated there.
Yeah. Time for a fresh mindset.
Eleven years since the last one—what's there to complain about?
Seeing is believing. No matter what, he'd know once he played it himself. First things first: make a new character.
For the record, he had serious skills in character customization.
He'd made plenty for other players too, earning him the title of Odinson Gallery's barber.
It got a bit forceful sometimes, but hey—a 10-win loser had no say.
He rolled his shoulders, grabbed the mouse, and dove into surgery starting with brow spacing and cheekbone height.
"Lumi dears, hello!!"
-no hi
-hi bong
-bye bye
-me bong
-me hi
Her avatar popped up on screen with a smile.
Jicheol from the year 25 might find it awkward, but by 20's standards, it was cutting-edge tech.
"So, you all know what we're doing today, right?"
-kya
-Odinson here!!
-sweaty game time
-lets go!!
"Boss and Iruka are streaming too? Voice chat? Nah, we grind solo till one's left standing for 1st, 2nd, 3rd."
Hanami was a first-gen member of the Korean VTuber group Florence.
(Hanami means flower viewing in Japanese, but this VTuber's name was solidly Korean: surname Ha, first name Nami.)
Someone might ask what the big deal was, but Florence's stage names were all like that. Dolphin (Iruka): surname Lee, first name Ruca, etc.
VTubing was still novel in Korea, chasing Japan's lead, so Japanese flavors worked.
But straight-up copying Japanese surnames and given names? Too soon... or so the Boss said.
So, streamer name Nami got Ha prefixed to Hanami. Something like that for the RP.
RP wasn't something to blurt out to viewers, though... Heck, VTubing felt alien to Hanami herself.
RP, debuts—all half-baked. She'd just gotten bulldozed by her go-getter streamer buddy.
But as a broadcasting vet, she adapted to the new wave and streamed as usual today.
"Roll! Roll! Rol...ling!! Selfish jerk! Just hit me!! Ack! Ow!! Potion!!"
...Or so she thought.
"How am I supposed to dodge that!! No!! Ack!! That hurts so bad!! Half health in one hit!! Ugh!! Trash game!! Trash game!! Dead game!! Total dogshit!!"
Staring at the black screen with "YOU DIED" in red, Hanami thought:
What kinda dogshit trash garbage game is this...?
Odin's Son. Or Hel: Odin's Daughter now?
With its notorious rep, she'd figured it had nothing to do with her.
Buzz filtered in via chat and fan cafe, but this hardcore stuff wasn't her jam.
She planned to sweet-talk her begging viewers and move on. Her loyal fans knew she couldn't clear it anyway.
Veteran streamer with years under her belt—she'd weathered worse. Just bite the bullet this time too.
The reason she was playing? Boss-assigned homework.
It was exploding in popularity just days post-launch. Can't ignore that. I'll host a group bet for content. Something like that.
No asking her opinion—just a public notice slamming down. No dodging it.
That damn... Next time they meet, she'd smack her...
Still, prime streaming fodder, so she got it.
Fresh launch, killer graphics. Art blew away even her jaded streamer eyes. Optimization solid for day whatever.
Her beastly PC helped too, job perk.
Strolling the open world, gawking at the massive world tree dominating the center, rainbow bridges weaving through branches—she thought, pretty decent.
Until that six-legged horse charged with eyes rolled back.
"What? Huh? What?"
Sleipnir. Loki's son.
The six-legged horse Odin rode in Norse myth.
What would normies think? Fast runner? Creepy? Cool?
Yeah, probably.
But Asgard Software staff thought:
Quadrupedal run, bipedal attacks? Perfect.
Shove in beast and giant skeletons both?
"...What the hell?"
-Welcome to Odin's Daughter
-lolololol
-oof that sucked
-oof run
Hanami froze a sec, then checked stream comp to review the recording.
-Sleipnir's youngest daughter, Rainbow Gatekeeper Gleipnir-
"...Daughter? And boss right at the start? No tutorial?"
-You haven't played Odinson yet huh.. lol
-there's no way.
"Odinson? Isn't it Daughter?"
-Up to last one was Son~
-First time Daughter drops.
"Oh. 'Cause Hel's a girl? First series rename I've seen."
-Fr, they'd keep it Son if Hel was dude.
-Title genderbends are rare af.
It wasn't that bad yet.
Die informed, stay mad. Die stupid, just an event, no feels.
...Until she learned the Boss's "tutorial boss" mission was that six-legged lunatic horse.
"Oh, that's the tutorial boss Boss mentioned? ...Tutorial boss? Uh, think there's a misunderstanding."
"Ack. Thanks for the mission~ Clear in 4 hours!"
"Psh, 4 hours? Really? Y'all underestimate me~ What fuss over the first boss."
-Not the time to laugh...
-Wallet Gatekeeper Gleipnir sensei...
-ah lol why funny already
"Wallet? Oh, her name's Wallet Gatekeeper?"
"Refund, newbie? Haha too funny!!"
"...This right? That the range?"
"...Damage feels off?"
"G-going again!! Still learning patterns!! Patterns!! I'll get it soon~"
1:12:59 / 800,000 won
"...?"